Too Lonely
by BlameItOnTheNaquadah
Summary: How would YOU feel if you always had to spend your downtime at the SGC? When all your friends' go off to their own homes and you're left alone, because your only home these days is inside Cheyenne Mountain? Wouldn't you feel lonely too?


**Too Lonely**

"Please Daniel."

"Nope."

"Why not? Please."

"No." The archaeologist moved on through the bazaar, away from the stall where Vala still stood as if mesmerised. He walked on for a good few yards before realizing that she wasn't following.

Sighing, Daniel returned to where she still hovered, in front of the cages. "Come on." He tugged at her arm.

Vala didn't budge. "I want one."

"You can't have one. End of. Now, let's go."

Vala didn't even turn her head to look at him, she merely moved closer closer to the bars of the largest hutch and continued to peer inside. "Please." The pleading tone in her voice had increased.

Daniel frowned – she really did sound like she wanted one of them. "You can't. It's against every regulation that's going. Landry would shoot you," he finished, flatly.

A long, silent pause.

"I could keep it at your apartment."

"No!" Daniel almost shouted his response.

Vala jumped visibly.

"Alright, alright Daniel! Keep your head on!" She glared at him, before stomping off through the market, but not before he thought that he saw a genuine glimmer of tears in her eyes.

"Keep your hair on," Daniel murmured to himself, before turning away from the cages that held the little puppies and following her.

o – o – o – o - o - o -

"Cam-er-on…" Vala drew her CO's name out on a long, low purr. She bit her lip and twirled her hair in her fingers.

"Uh – huh?" Mitchell wasn't really paying attention to her, but trying to work out how much to pay for the assorted small bread rolls and buns on the counter in front of him.

"Can I have one of those?"

"One of what?" Mitchell looked up, expecting to see her eyeing up some large chocolate cake, only to find his team mate looking wistfully at a large basket on the adjoining table top. Half a dozen or so balls of adorable fluff, masquerading as kittens, were mewing and tumbling about.

Mitchell laughed. "You're not serious, Princess?" His bright blue eyes looked at her quizzically.

"I am. Daniel says that I can't have a puppy. But kittens aren't as much trouble are they? Can I have one of those?"

"To keep inside the mountain?" Mitchell sounded incredulous.

"Well, obviously to keep in the mountain!" Vala glared at her CO. "That's where I live isn't it?"

"O – kay." Mitchell began.

"I can?" The alien woman swung around, face glowing.

"No!" Mitchell interrupted, hands raised. "That's not what I meant! You can't keep a cat inside the mountain. It needs access to the outdoors to be healthy. And you can't keep a pet twenty something floors below ground! Plus there's all the equipment – and the Stargate! Sometimes, you act crazy, Vala, you know?!"

Her face had dropped during Mitchell's speech. "It's not fair!" Grabbing one of the cakes from the table, she flounced away angrily, but not before her CO had seen, like Daniel, a flicker of genuine emotion cross her face. "You Tau'ri are slave traders, you know that?"

"Slave drivers," he called after her. "And no I'm not!"

o – o – o – o - o - o -

"Aren't they adorable?" Vala murmured, two young rabbits tucked tenderly onto her lap, where she sat cross legged on the ground.

"They are." Sam crouched down, rubbing one of the tiny creatures gently on it's head. It's liquid eyes regarded her inquisitively. "My brother and I had rabbits as pets a couple of times."

"Did you really?" Vala looked up at her, surprised. "You're so lucky."

There was a lengthy pause. Sam had a feeling that something else was coming, and she wasn't wrong.

"My stepmother Adria didn't allow me to have a pet. Probably because she was such an old cow herself!" Vala smiled, but it was slightly wobbly. "Why get a pet when you've already got an 'old cow' for a stepmother?" She did the finger quotations gesture which she loved so much, before resuming her stroking of the rabbits' soft fur.

"One of my rabbits was taken by a fox, once," Sam told her, shaking her head. "It was horrible – not a pretty sight on the back yard the next morning!"

"Oh, poor Sam!" Vala was horrified.

"Yeah, not the nicest thing to see out of your window in the middle of breakfast." Sam smiled sadly. The death of her little bunny all those years ago still touched a tiny sore place in her heart.

Vala's brain was whirling however. "Of course, there aren't any foxes inside the mountain, are there?" she mused.

"Nope." The blonde Colonel lifted one of the rabbit's into her own lap. "No rabbits either."

"There could be!" Vala was looking hopefully at Sam. "I could have a hutch in my quarters! I could keep a little rabbit in there! Really I could! It wouldn't be a nuisance at all! Neither would I! I could look after it all on my own!"

"Vala…" Sam tried to interrupt, but with little success.

"It wouldn't be like a puppy or a cat or anything that needs a walk or to use a poop tray! I could clean it out every day, and feed it and look after it- Landry wouldn't even know it was there. It wouldn't be any bother to anyone!"

"Vala," Sam laid her hand on her friend's arm firmly. "You can't keep a rabbit in the mountain."

Unseen by either of them, Daniel had approached the small shop where they sat. He leaned against the door frame, listening.

"Why?" Vala pouted, flashing an angry glance at her friend.

"A living creature needs fresh air. They need to see daylight, the sunshine. Rabbits need an outside run, for when the weather's nice, and they need to be able to hop around in the fresh grass." Sam smiled apologetically as she repeated – " You can't keep a pet inside the mountain."

"But I'm kept inside the mountain!" Vala raised her voice, suddenly and unexpectedly. She stood, carefully tipping the bundle of bunny fluff from her own lap into Sam's. "Nobody cares about that! None of you care that I'm stuck inside the mountain! I don't get to see the daylight, or the sunshine! I don't even know what the weather is on most days. I can't remember the last time that I walked on your stupid, horrible Tau'ri grass! But that's okay with all of you, is it? I'm not even worth as much as a silly rabbit! And I didn't want one anyway!"

She turned and barged past Daniel, but not before he'd seen a single tear slip from her brimming eyes and slide down her cheek.

o – o – o – o - o - o -

Vala was sitting in the shade of a tall, palm-like tree when Daniel found her, about half an hour later.

She hunched her shoulder at him and turned away as he sat down.

Daniel just shifted closer then paused, musing, before carefully slipping one arm around her shoulders.

Vala folded her arms, unsmiling. There was a long pause.

"I guess…" Daniel broke the silence eventually. "I guess that we all forget how hard it is for you to live inside Cheyenne Mountain. I mean, Teal'c has Dakara, and the Jaffa Council when he wants to escape from it all, but all you have is – well – the Mountain."

Still no sound from Vala.

"I'm sorry," he leaned forward, trying to see her expression.

Vala deliberately pulled her hair in front of her face and scrunched up tighter.

"Really." Daniel spoke softly. He meant every word. "It must be hard not to have anywhere else to call home. And we – I …"

Another long, silent pause.

Daniel changed tactic. "I'm so proud of you Vala, really I am. You've done amazingly well, these last two years, settling in on a strange world, with strange customs."

The sound of a gentle sigh reached Daniel's ears.

"Are you really proud of me?" Vala asked, in a small voice.

"Very," Daniel tightened his arm around her, realizing that he truly meant it.

She cuddled right in against him, laying her head on his shoulder.

"But you really can't have a rabbit as a pet," Daniel continued. "Or a cat. Especially not a dog!"

"I know." Sighing, Vala fiddled with the zipper on Daniel's jacket. "It's just – having a pet – well, it would be some company, that's all. When nobody else is around. It's gets very boring when all the rest of you are in your own homes, you know darling. I mean, I can only listen to Walter talking about his bets, and Siler going on about his wrenches and screwdrivers for so long. It's not so bad if Muscles is around, but when he's away I can't even get to his DVD's."

"You mean, you haven't stolen a key card to Teal'c's quarters yet?" Daniel quipped, teasingly.

Vala blushed. "Well, actually, I do have one for that corridor. But I would never go into Muscles' room without his permission."

"You break into my office all the time without my permission!" Daniel reminded her.

"That's different. It's you." She tilted her head up at him, a hint of laughter in her beautiful slate blue eyes. "And I work in your office too. It's not the same."

"I guess so." Daniel absently ran his fingers through her long, silky black hair. He was thinking. "How about…how about, at least once a week, you come home with either Sam, or Mitchell or me? For the evening? Or even…" _So help me, I may live to regret this,_ he thought, before carrying on. "Staying over?"

"Really?" Vala pushed away from Daniel slightly, incredulous smile beginning to spread across her face. "Staying at your apartment? With you? At night?"

"Separate beds!" Smiling kindly, the archaeologist flicked the end of her nose. "Separate rooms!"

"Alright." Vala nodded, biting her lip. She really did look exceptionally sweet when she did that.

Daniel's breath hitched slightly and he gave himself a mental shake. _Steady, Jackson_, he thought. _She's your colleague. You work with her. _"I mean, we'd have to ask Sam, and Mitchell, but I'm pretty sure it'd be okay." He paused, a faint, rosy tinge tickling the tops of his ears and spreading along his cheek bones. "And it's okay with me."

"Thank you, Daniel!" Vala squeezed him tightly, arms wrapped around his torso, face snuggled in against his BDU jacket.

Daniel felt his heart perform another acrobatic flip.

"And what clothes should I pack, when I stay over at yours?" Blinking widely, Vala looked up at him innocently. "Or shall I not bring any?"

"Stop it!" Daniel told her, in no uncertain terms. "The first time that you turn up to my place in that pink – pink – THING which came from Victoria's Secret I'll drive you straight back to the SGC before you can even blink! And don't even contemplate bringing the handcuffs!"

Vala pouted, but teasingly this time. "Alright. You're wasting a perfect opportunity, though!"

"I'll live," Daniel replied, as he stood and hauled her to her feet. But inwardly, the thought of the pink negligee and handcuffs turning up at his apartment was really rather appealing.

o – o – o – o - o - o -

A fortnight or so trundled past. Daniel had spoken to Mitchell about Vala staying off base some nights, when the whole team were about.

SG-1's long suffering CO, although experiencing some depressing thoughts about the paperwork involved, had shared his team mate's belief, so traipsed off to tackle General Landry.

The General, much to everyone's surprise, agreed at once.

"It doesn't do anyone any good to be living permanently at the SGC," Landry said. "Especially someone like Ms Mal Doran. I have to say, I didn't really expect her to stay around this long, so it wasn't a problem at first. But she's proved herself to all of us, and she seems to like it here, on Earth, so I agree. Let her stay off base occasionally. I'll sort out the paper work."

And so a thrilled Vala had already stayed over once at Sam's, for a girly evening involving wine, chocolate and romantic comedies.

The following week she had gone out with Mitchell. Their evening had consisted of beefsteaks, beer and pool, but Vala had enjoyed that just as much as the rom-coms.

Daniel was due up next, and had decided he would take her roller skating – he insisted that he wasn't putting any boots with wheels onto his own feet, but he'd happily watch her. Sam was coming too, then Vala would go back to Daniel's and stay over in his neat and pristine apartment.

The alien, paying no attention to her team mates wishes, had packed the pink negligee, plus a red lacy one, although had regretfully left the handcuffs behind.

Consequently, Vala was surprised when a knock at her quarters on the evening before their trip heralded the arrival of Daniel, holding a large, cardboard box.

She raised her eyebrows. "You're a whole day in front of yourself, darling." A frown. "You're not blowing me away, are you?"

Daniel chuckled. "Blowing you off. And no – tomorrow is still well and truly on. But I have a present for you." He placed the box onto her bed. "Well, actually, it's from all of us – all of SG-1, I mean."

"A present?" Vala grinned, hands clasped in front of herself. "Really? A present for me?"

"Uh huh." Daniel felt a genuine pang of sympathy for the alien – she was always so excessively pleased if anyone ever gave her a gift of any kind. He guessed that presents during the rest of her life had been few and very far between. Probably explained why she had so many birthdays. "Here. Shut your eyes."

Obediently, Vala closed them, and stood still, hands still clasped in front of her.

Daniel had the most bizarre urge to kiss her sweet, generous pink mouth as she stood there. He shook off the notion as quickly as possible. Turning to the box, he lifted out what looked to be a maze of clear plastic tunnels and boxes, with cheerfully bright plastic lids and adornments. There was some kind of tower sticking up on top, and the largest compartment had a yellow plastic wheel attached to one side.

"Open your eyes," Daniel told her, as he carefully placed the strange article into her hands.

Vala opened them, and looked at the contraption, completely bemused. "What is it?"

Gently, Daniel tapped against the plastic on one of the little rooms. A large bundle of white cotton wool-like material began to heave, before a small pink nose poked out.

Vala jumped, then squealed. "What is it?" she repeated, face flushed with excitement. "There's something in there, what's in there? Is it a little creature? For me?" Her smile was incredulous, wondering.

Daniel felt a wide grin spreading across his own face. "It's a hamster," he told her. "A small Earth rodent, very cute and fluffy, perfect for you. Not too expensive to look after, easy to handle and unlikely to run amok throughout the SGC like a cat or a dog. Plus his cage is small enough to bring away when you stay over with one of us."

Vala was speechless. She stood, peering into the cage, transfixed by the fluffy, orange-brown face which had followed the pink nose out of the bedding. "Is he really mine?" she asked, eyes shining. "Really?"

"Really." Daniel took the cage off of her gently and showed Vala how to open the compartment where the little chap was inquisitively peeping out. He carefully lifted the furball out and plopped him into her outstretched hands.

"He's so soft!" Vala moved carefully and sat on the bed.

The little guy began to explore up her arm and across the front of her black T-shirt. Chuckling, she lifted the hamster and held him in her hands, close to her heart. "He's really and truly mine?" she asked again, looking up at Daniel, slate grey eyes dark and slightly tearful.

"Yup." The archaeologist sat next to her. "You won't be on your own inside the mountain anymore. Think that you can look after him? Make sure that his door is always secure so he doesn't run away? Keep his home clean, feed him on time and change his water? You won't forget?"

Vala shook her head. "I won't forget," she replied huskily.

Daniel gave her a one armed hug. "He's all yours then."_ And I rather think that I am too_, he thought, but didn't share that belief with her. Not yet.

Clearing his throat, he stroked the ball of fluff which was now on it's way over Vala's shoulder. "Bring him to mine with you tomorrow then, okay?"

"Of course." Vala was completely besotted with the hamster – pink and red negligee's completely forgotten.

"What are you going to call him?" Daniel asked, rescuing the little explorer from underneath his owner's long, raven-black tresses.

Vala screwed up her nose in that cute way that she had, thinking.

Daniel felt something very odd happening to his insides. And somewhere else on his anatomy.

"I think….that I'll call him…" Vala paused, considering. She pursed up her lips. "I think that…his name's….Crichton."

There was a short silence.

Daniel looked blank. "Crichton?" He inquired, eventually.

"Yes. Crichton. After that guy in _Farscape_. I like him." Vala kissed the hamster's face, before depositing him back into his bedroom.

"Okay," Daniel had no idea who she meant, but smiled anyway. He stood to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Vala followed him to the door. "Thank you Daniel." When she gazed up at him her eyes were huge and sparkling.

Her team mate swallowed suddenly, almost hypnotized by that wide, grey gaze. "You're – you're welcome," he managed to stammer. A pause. "So – tomorrow then."

Pushing himself away, Daniel moved off along the hall, head in a whirl, a dopey grin beginning to tug at the corners of his mouth.

Vala watched him go, speculatively, before closing the door to her quarters. She kissed her fingers and pressed them against the furry face peeping out at her from the plastic maze. Then practically skipping to her closet she pulled out the handcuffs and tossed them gleefully into her holdall. She rather thought that she might need them after all!

**The End!**


End file.
